diff --git a/smartassist/src/startservices.py b/smartassist/src/startservices.py
index 49fad0c..cf435ff 100644
--- a/smartassist/src/startservices.py
+++ b/smartassist/src/startservices.py
@@ -3,31 +3,36 @@ import subprocess
 import os
 import yaml
 import json
-from backend import run_flask
+# from backend import run_flask
 import socket
 import urllib.parse
 import logging
+import utils
+from utils import set_local_logger, run_flask
 
-global log_level
+# global log_level
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+# logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-def set_local_logger(log_instance):
-    """
-    Configure logging based on the global variable log_level
-    Logging is controlled by integer values, where DEBUG < INFO < WARNING < ERROR < CRITICAL.
-    To turn off logging completely, set numeric_log_level to at least CRITICAL + 1.
-    """
-    global log_level
-    numeric_log_level = getattr(logging, log_level, None)
-    if not isinstance(numeric_log_level, int):
-        raise ValueError('Invalid log level: %s' % log_level)
+# def set_local_logger(log_instance):
+#     """
+#     Configure logging based on the global variable log_level
+#     Logging is controlled by integer values, where DEBUG < INFO < WARNING < ERROR < CRITICAL.
+#     To turn off logging completely, set numeric_log_level to at least CRITICAL + 1.
+#     """
+#     global log_level
+#     numeric_log_level = getattr(logging, log_level, None)
+#     if not isinstance(numeric_log_level, int):
+#         raise ValueError('Invalid log level: %s' % log_level)
     
-    logging.basicConfig(level=numeric_log_level)  # Set the root logger level to the configured level
-    log_instance.info('Log level set to {}'.format(log_level))  # Example usage of the logger
+#     logging.basicConfig(level=numeric_log_level)  # Set the root logger level to the configured level
+#     log_instance.info('Log level set to {}'.format(log_level))  # Example usage of the logger
 
 def configure():
-    
+    """
+    Reads YAML configruation file into dictionary, parse it and fill all referenceed
+    environment variables with their values.
+    """
     ##################
     # Read YAML config
     ##################
@@ -56,14 +61,14 @@ def configure():
     # Extract global logging level
     ##################
     # The log_level variable will be used by the logger module to set the log level
-    global log_level
+    global log_level # REALLY NECESSARY TO DEFINE THIS GLOBAL AGAIN???
     log_level = 'INFO'  # Default value if not specified in the config file
     if isinstance(updated_config.get('logging'), dict): # Look for 'logging' key in config file
         logging_config = updated_config['logging'] 
         if isinstance(logging_config.get('level'), str): # Set to value of the yaml file if specified
             log_level = logging_config['level'] 
  
-    set_local_logger(logger) # Set log level for logger based on log_level
+    set_local_logger(utils.logger) # Set log level for logger based on log_level
 
     return updated_config
 
@@ -78,16 +83,16 @@ def start_frontend(config):
     with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
         try:
             s.bind((hostname, port))
-            logger.info("No server is running on %s -— starting one.", parsed_url.netloc)
+            utils.logger.info("No server is running on %s -— starting one.", parsed_url.netloc)
             # Start frontend (web server) as a separate process
             subprocess.Popen(["python", "-m", "http.server", str(port)])
         except socket.error as e:
             if e.errno == 48:
-                logger.error("A server is already running on %s -— will use this.", parsed_url.netloc)
+                utils.logger.error("A server is already running on %s -— will use this.", parsed_url.netloc)
             else:
                 raise  # Unexpected error, re-raise it so we can see the traceback
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to start frontend: %s", str(e)) # Corresponds to print(f"Failed to start frontend: {e}")
+            utils.logger.error("Failed to start frontend: %s", str(e)) # Corresponds to print(f"Failed to start frontend: {e}")
             
 
 
@@ -95,17 +100,17 @@ def start_backend(config):
     parsed_url = urllib.parse.urlparse(config['backend']['url'])
     # hostname = parsed_url.netloc.split(':')[0]  # Split by ':' and take the first part, i.e., 'localhost', IP, or domain name
     port = parsed_url.port  # This is the server port
-    logger.debug('Backend parsed url set to {}'.format(parsed_url))
-    logger.debug('Backend port set to {}'.format(port))
+    utils.logger.debug('Backend parsed url set to {}'.format(parsed_url))
+    utils.logger.debug('Backend port set to {}'.format(port))
 
     try:
         run_flask(fport = port)
     except Exception as e:
-        logger.error("Failed to start backend: %s", str(e)) # Corresponds to print(f"Failed to start backend: {e}")
+        utils.logger.error("Failed to start backend: %s", str(e)) # Corresponds to print(f"Failed to start backend: {e}")
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     conf = configure() # Read config from file and set up config dict
-    logger.debug('conf dictionary set to {}'.format(json.dumps(conf, indent=4)))
+    utils.logger.debug('conf dictionary set to {}'.format(json.dumps(conf, indent=4)))
     start_frontend(config=conf) 
     start_backend(config=conf)